(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on December 17, 2025, shows Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum speaking during her daily press conference at Palacio Nacional in Mexico City on November 28, 2025, and US President Donald Trump looking on during a Mexican Border Defense Medal presentation in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on December 15, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds, Yuri Cortez | Afp | Getty Images
President Donald Trump suggested in a new interview that aired Thursday that the U.S. military could begin land strikes on drug cartels in Mexico.
“We’ve knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by water. And we are going to start now hitting land, with regard to the cartels,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity.
“The cartels are running Mexico, it’s very sad to watch and see what’s happened to that country,” Trump said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC on the president’s remarks.
Trump’s suggestion comes less than a week after U.S. forces struck Venezuela and captured its authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, Celia Flores.
The Trump administration has also threatened military action in Cuba, Colombia, and Greenland over the last week.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
